Kirby Star Allies
|genre = Action, 2D Platformer |ratings = |platforms = Nintendo Switch}} Kirby Star Allies (sometimes written Kirby: Star Allies), known in Japan as 星のカービィ スターアライズ (Hoshi no Kabi: Sutā Araizu, meaning Kirby of the Stars: Star Allies), is a game in the Kirby series that was released on March 16, 2018 worldwide, with a demo released on March 1 (EU)Nintendo UK Twitter and on March 4 (US)Go Nintendo of that year. It is the first game in the series released for the Nintendo Switch, and the first traditional Kirby platformer since Kirby's Return to Dream Land to support cooperative multiplayer through the main game. Story Gameplay Kirby Star Allies is a traditional platformer Kirby game, in which the player controls Kirby, whose objective is to get to the end of each stage through the use of Copy Abilities. Kirby retains his traditional moves; the Inhale, Star Spit, Slide attack, Air Gun, and floating. The game is a 2.5D platformer, meaning that the characters move on a two-dimensional plane in a 3D environment. Two game mechanics return from previous installments of the Kirby series; those of Mix abilities (from Kirby: Squeak Squad, though in this game they are called Friend Abilities) and Helpers (from Kirby Super Star and its remake, though they are here referred to as "friends"). In a manner similar to the mechanic shown in the trailer for the unreleased Kirby GCN, there can be four player-controlled or CPU-controlled friends at one time. Kirby can throw a Friend HeartNintendo of America Twitter at certain types of enemies in order to turn it into a friend by using the X button; friends can also throw Friend Hearts in order to change their ability. Kirby and his friends can also do the same with Copy Essences and Ability Stars. Even if Kirby has no friends, another player can join, taking Kirby's current ability similar to the helper mechanic in previous games; Kirby can also turn a friend into an ability item by performing the unfriend move (which replaces the Drop Ability function if Kirby has none); this can also be achieved by throwing a Friend Heart at an enemy while already having three friends, and opting to cancel the action instead of replacing one of them. Friends can assist Kirby in multiple ways, allowing for Friend Actions, such as creating the Friend Circle, a circular formation that allows them to roll ahead in certain areas. The player can also mix Friend Abilities by holding up on the analog stick and having a partner using an attack on the player's character. Players can also revive a friend that has no HP, recovering only half of their total HP. Additionally, there are two sub-games separate from the main game. They are small, competitive sub-games that also support up to four players at once, as well as optional Joy-Con motion controls. Star Slam Heroes is a timing-based game strongly reminiscent of Megaton Punch, where Kirbys power up a flaming baseball bat and attempt to smack a meteor the farthest distance. Chop Champs sees players trying to chop as much wood as possible with their Kirby within a time limit while avoiding bugs and Gordos. The game is set to receive updates adding new Dream Friends following the game's release, with the first update, which was released on March 28, 2018, adding Rick & Kine & Coo, Marx, and Gooey. In the update, a new celebration picture was added, and playing Guest Star ???? Star Allies Go! with the new Dream Friends reveals additional stages and music. A second wave of Dream Friends will be added in another update on July 27, 2018, adding Daroach, Dark Meta Knight, and Adeleine & Ribbon.[https://www.nintendo.co.jp/switch/ah26a/pc/dreamfriends/index.html Kirby Star Allies Japanese website] Game Modes *Story Mode *Chop Champs *Star Slam Heroes *Guest Star ???? Star Allies Go! *The Ultimate Choice Characters Playable characters *Kirby Friends *Beetley *Bio Spark *Birdon *Blade Knight *Bonkers *Broom Hatter *Bugzzy *Burning Leo *Chef Kawasaki *Chilly *Como *Driblee *Gim *Jammerjab *Knuckle Joe *NESP *Parasol Waddle Dee *Plugg *Poppy Bros. Jr. *Rocky *Sir Kibble *Vividria *Waddle Doo *Wester Dream Friends *Adeleine & Ribbon (Post-launch) *Bandana Waddle Dee *Dark Meta Knight (Post-launch) *Daroach (Post-launch) *Gooey (Post-launch) *King Dedede *Marx (Post-launch) *Meta Knight *Rick & Kine & Coo (Post-launch) Allies (cameo appearances) *ChuChu (Cleaning moveset) *Nago (Cleaning moveset) *Pitch (Cleaning moveset) *Popon (Goal Game) Enemies Mid-bosses *Bonkers *Bugzzy *Chef Kawasaki *Mr. Frosty *Vividria Bosses *Flamberge *Francisca *Grand Mam *Hyness *King Dedede *Meta Knight *Morpho Knight *Pon & Con **Goldon & Silvox *Kracko **Twin Kracko *Void Termina **Void Soul *Whispy Woods **Yggy Woods *Zan Partizanne Copy Abilities The game features 28 standard Copy Abilities, as well as the ability to mix certain abilities together into Friend Abilities, similarly to how mixing abilities worked in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and Kirby: Squeak Squad. Abilities in italics are new, and abilities in bold can be permanently imbued with an element. Copy Abilities Elements *CPU players will not use Stealth Water Gun, Ice Kine, or Giga Force Blast to give elements. Dream Friends Dream Friends are a feature newly introduced in Kirby Star Allies. Some can receive elemental attributes, while others can bestow them. Items *1UP *3D Warp Star *Food *Friend Heart *Invincibility Candy *Key *Maxim Tomato *Meat *Pep Brew *Picture Piece *Point Star *Power-Up Heart *Treasure Chest *Warp Star *Watermelon Levels Levels in italics are unlocked by pressing a Big Switch in another stage. Stages in bold contain boss fights. Stages in italic and bold are unlocked by beating the game. *World of Peace - Dream Land **Green Gardens **Donut Dome **Honey Hill **'Fruity Forest' **'Clash at Castle Dedede' **''Extra Eclair'' *World of Miracles - Planet Popstar **Friendly Field **Reef Resort **''Inside Islands'' **Echo's Edge **Nature's Navel **''Duplex Dream'' **'Sacred Square' *Fortress of Shadows - Jambastion **'Gatehouse Road' **Eastern Wall **'Longview Corridor' **Western Outer Wall **'Inner Sanctum' **'Heavenly Hall' **''Sector A'' **''Sector B'' **''Sector C'' *Far-Flung - Starlight Heroes **Planet Earthfall **'Falluna Moon' **Planet Misteen **'Mareen Moon' **Planet Caverna **'Grott Moon' **Planet Frostak **'Blizzno Moon' **Planet Towara **'Gabbel Moon' **Star Lavadom **'Sizzlai Moon' **Jambandra Base **'The Divine Terminus' **''Extra Planet α'' **''Extra Planet β'' **''Extra Planet γ'' **''Extra Planet δ'' **''Ability Planet'' *Kirby - Star Allies Objects *Apple *Containers *Cannon *Electro Saw *Switch *Star Block Demo The demo for Kirby Star Allies was released on March 1 in European regions and March 4 in North America. It includes two stages: a combination of Green Gardens, Honey Hill, and Fruity Forest called "Grasslands Stage;" and a combination of Donut Dome, Friendly Field, Reef Resort and Clash at Castle Dedede, called "Cave & Castle Stage." A Nintendo eShop link appears beneath the stage links. A boss fight was present at the end of each stage: Whispy Woods at the end of "Grasslands Stage" and King Dedede at the end of "Cave & Castle Stage." As well as being released on the eShop, the demo was included in the software of Nintendo Switch demo kiosks at retail locations. amiibo Compatibility During Story Mode, the player can scan an amiibo. Scanning a Kirby-related amiibo (both from the Kirby series and their Super Smash Bros. counterparts) will give two Point Stars, either a Maxim Tomato or a Pep Brew, and two Picture Pieces. The same goes for scanning the Qbby amiibo from BOXBOY!, except it gives a milk carton Food item instead. Scanning any other amiibo will give two Point Stars, a cherry, and one Picture Piece. In addition, the game will only allow 7 different amiibos to be scanned per Stage attempt. The count resets if the player exits the stage without clearing it. Transcript Trivia *''Kirby Star Allies'' greatly resembles the first attempt at Kirby GCN, a canceled game for the Nintendo GameCube. It resembles Kirby's Return to Dream Land as well, though this is because Kirby GCN was reworked into Kirby's Return to Dream Land. *Friends wear the hat that corresponds to their ability, unlike Helpers in Kirby Super Star and its remake. *Friends reflect the colors of the player playing them. Any friends who are player 2 are yellow, friends who are player 3 are blue, and friends who are player 4 are green. This concept is reused from Kirby GCN. It, however, applies only to common enemies and midbosses; special characters (such as King Dedede and Gooey) always retain their normal coloration unless they are being used by multiple players. *This is Nago, Pitch, and ChuChu's first appearance in the flesh since their debut 21 years before Kirby Star Allies in Kirby's Dream Land 3. *In The Ultimate Choice's difficulty selection, there is a secret 8th difficulty, Soul Melter, which shows Kirby with red, evil eyes, grinning. This is a reference to the Kirby: Right Back at Ya! episode Frog Wild. **King Dedede, when he transforms, greatly resembles his transformation in the same episode when he was possessed. *This is the first Kirby game to be localized into Chinese, in both Traditional and Simplified forms. *Before Kirby Star Allies’ release date was revealed to be March 16, 2018 in the January 11 Nintendo Direct Mini, the official Nintendo website's Game Store page listed the game's release date as June 30, 2018. This may have just been a placeholder release date/window before an actual release date was officially announced. *''Kirby Star Allies'' is the fourth Kirby game to have an E10+ ESRB rating. *''Kirby Star Allies'' is the first Kirby game to have a happy Kirby on the North American box art since Kirby and the Rainbow Curse. *''Kirby Star Allies'' is the first Kirby game to see release worldwide on the same day. *The power of the new Artist ability, when paired with the hat, is reminiscent of Adeleine from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. *''Kirby Star Allies'' is Adeleine and Ribbon's first appearance since Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. *This is the fifth Kirby game to run at 30fps instead of the usual 60fps, the first four being Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, Kirby: Planet Robobot (depending on the amount of objects onscreen, but otherwise runs at 60fps), and Kirby Battle Royale. **However, even though the game runs at 30fps, the menu, pause screens, and loading screens run at 60fps. *This is the first Kirby game where Waddle Doo closes his eye, something only previously seen in Kirby: Right Back at Ya! and Smash Run from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. *On January 27, 2018, the My Nintendo rewards program released a Kirby Star Allies-themed calendar for the month of February. It was discovered to be a January calendar, as the month had 31 days instead of 28, and Valentine's Day was marked as the second Sunday of the month rather than the second Wednesday. This mistake was corrected shortly after.Nintendo Wire *When the official Japanese website of Kirby Star Allies launched on February 14, 2018, the URL initially misspelled the game's title as "Star Arise." This was corrected shortly afterward, and the misspelled URL now redirects to the correct one. (The English words "Allies" and "Arise" have the same spelling in katakana.) *''Kirby Star Allies'' is the first traditional platformer in the series to name individual stages. *In the March 8 Nintendo Direct, when Gooey is shown as a future update Dream Friend, they state that his debut was in Kirby's Dream Land 3, when he actually debuted in Kirby's Dream Land 2 as a non-playable character. This error also appears on the official site for Kirby Star Allies. **Although, this is probably due to the fact Gooey's name wasn't revealed until Kirby's Dream Land 3, and that his appearance in Kirby's Dream Land 2 was a mystery to players when the game was first released. *''Kirby Star Allies'' consists of four worlds, the fewest thus far of any game in the main series. * When King Dedede is defeated, a false credits starts to play, which might be a reference to Kirby's Dream Land’s ending where Kirby defeated King Dedede. A similar false credits appears at the end of Guest Star ???? Allies Go, after the player defeats Hyness. *''Kirby Star Allies'', Kirby's Dream Land 2, Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble, and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse are the only games in the series thus far to save the player's life count. **''Kirby Star Allies'' is also the first game where Kirby's lives extend over 99. *The first letter of all seven stages found on Planet Popstar, including the two unlockable stages, spell out the word "FRIENDS", which ties into the theme of friendship present in the game, as well as the game's main mechanic. This is a trait that is present in several previous Kirby titles (Kirby's Adventure, Kirby: Canvas Curse, Kirby's Return to Dream Land, Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition, Kirby: Triple Deluxe and Kirby: Planet Robobot). *''Kirby Star Allies'' has the most standard Copy Abilities of any Kirby game, at 28. *A new composer was introduced in this game: Yuuta Ogasawara. He composed the music for Planet Earthfall, Planet Towara, the sub-games, and the Kirby Dance. *In the 2.0.0 update, murals of all the Dream Friends were hidden in various levels. *When Kirby defeats the first four bosses (Whispy Woods, King Dedede, Meta Knight, and Pon & Con), he can throw a Friend Heart at them to positively affect them. Dedede and Meta Knight are converted into friends, Whispy Woods happily drops dozens of items from his branches, and Pon & Con eagerly open a gate for Kirby to pass through. The latter is required to continue through the game. **Kirby can also damage Void Soul with Friend Hearts. *As listed in the game's credits, the third-party company Eighting provided development assistance for the Star Slam Heroes and Chop Champs sub-games. Kirby Star Allies is their first collaboration with HAL Laboratory. *''Kirby Star Allies'' is the first Kirby game to be promoted with more than one web game; the Kirby Star Allies Jigsaw Jumble and Choose your buddy are both used for entertaining advertisement. Videos Artwork KSA Kirby Artwork.png|Kirby KSA Kirby artwork 4.png|Kirby Kirby - Kirby Star Allies.png|Kirby KSA Kirby Artwork 2.png|Kirby with a Friend Heart KSA Artist artwork.png|Artist Kirby KSA Spider Kirby artwork.png|Spider Kirby KSA Staff Kirby artwork1.png|Staff Kirby Festival Kirby.png|Festival Kirby KSA Cleaning Kirby Artwork.png|Cleaning Kirby KSA Burning Leo and Flame sword kirby artwork.png|Burning Leo and Kirby KSA Kirby and Poppy Bros. Jr. artwork cropped.png|Poppy Bros. Jr. and Kirby KSA Cleaning Kirby and curling stone Artwork.png|Cleaning Kirby with Curling Stone KSA_Yo-yo_kirby.png|Yo-Yo Kirby, upgraded to Sizzle Yo-Yo KSA_yo-yo_kirby_Artwork.png|Yo-Yo Kirby Cook KSA.PNG|Cook Kirby KSA Helper Artwork.png|Friend Circle with Helpers KSA Character Artwork.png|Festival Bird Festival enemy KSA Driblee Artwork.png|Driblee Vividria_Kirby_Star_Allies_Artwork.png|Vividria Gim_Kirby_Star_Allies_Artwork.png|Gim with a Splash Yo-Yo Poppy Bros. Jr. enemy KSA.png|Poppy Bros. Jr. KSA_Poppy_Bros._Jr..png|Poppy Bros. Jr. with a Bluster Bomb KSA_Blade_Knight.png|Blade Knight with a Blizzard Sword KSA_Bonkers_Artwork.png|Bonkers with a Zap Hammer KSA_Parasol_Waddle_Dee.png|Parasol Waddle Dee Bio_Spark_Star_Allies.png|Bio Spark with a Sizzle Katana Burning Leo Star Allies Artwork.png|Burning Leo KSA Francisca artwork.png|Francisca KSA Flamberge artwork.png|Flamberge KSA Blonde general artwork.png|Zan Partizanne KSA The Three generals Artwork.png|The three Jambastion mages KSA King Dedede artwork transparent.png|King Dedede KSA Macho Dedede.png|King Dedede (boss) KSA Meta Knight artwork.png|Meta Knight KSA Plugg artwork.png|Plugg KSA Chilly artwork.png|Chilly KSA Maxim Tomato artwork.png|Maxim Tomato KSA Pep brew artwork.png|Pep Brew KSA Picture Piece artwork.png|Picture Piece KSA Mt. Dedede.png|King Dedede's Castle KSA Bandana Waddle Dee.png|Bandana Waddle Dee KSA RickKineCoo.png|Rick & Kine & Coo KSA Marx.png|Marx KSA Gooey artwork.png|Gooey Daroach ksa.png|Daroach Dmk.png|Dark Meta Knight Ado and ribbon.png|Adeleine & Ribbon Logos KirbyforNintendoSwitchlogovariant.png| North American Logo KirbyStarAlliesLogoJP.png| Japanese Logo Boxart KSA Boxart.jpg| North American Box Art Kirbystaralliesbackcover.png| North American Box Art back Kirbystaralliesspine.png| North American Box Art Spine Kirbystaralliesinsidecover.png| North American Reverse Cover KSA BOX UK.png| United Kingdom Box Art KSA JP Box.jpg| Japanese Box Art Media KirbyStarAlliesGameCard.png| North American Game Card KSA Icon.jpg| United Kingdom Home Menu Icon KSA_Banner_Ad.jpg|YouTube banner advertisement Gallery KSw Screenshot 1.png|Sword Kirby slashes a Bronto Burt. KSw Screenshot 2.png|Stone Kirby, as a Curling Stone, freezes Cappies. KSw Screenshot 3.png|Kirby converts an enemy Poppy Bros. Jr. into a Helper. KSw Screenshot 4.png|Kirby and Parasol Waddle Dee solve a puzzle. KSw Screenshot 5.png|Sword Kirby powers up his sword with Fire. KSw Screenshot 6.png|Bomb Kirby powers up his bomb with Water. KSw Screenshot 7.png|Kirby and his Helpers form a wheel. KSw Screenshot 8.png|Kirby and his Helpers shoot out of Cannons. KSw Screenshot 9.png|Kirby and his Helpers battle Mr. Frosty. KSw Screenshot 10.png|Kirby and his Helpers battle Whispy Woods. KSw Screenshot 11.png|Kirby travels across the level map. KSw Screenshot 12.png|Kirby and his Helpers clear a stage. KSA Puzzle Piece.jpg|A new collectible, the Picture Piece Buff De De De.png|Transformed King Dedede File:Spider Ability.jpeg|Kirby's Spider Copy Ability. File:Friend Abilities.jpeg|Friend Abilities introduction. File:Artist Ability.jpeg|Kirby's Artist Copy Ability. File:New Mechanic Friend Train.jpeg|The Friend Train. The new Copy Ability Stick KSA.jpeg|Kirby's Staff Copy Ability KSA Unknown Cloak Person.jpg|Hyness 00000965 11.jpg|The Jamba Heart Kirby Star Allies screenshot.png|Kirby and his Helpers battle Francisca. Coo.PNG|A mural of Coo found in Inside Islands KSA_Game_Over.jpg|Game Over KSA_100%.jpg|100% Clear KSA_Daroach.png|Daroach Dark_Meta_Knight_Dream_Friend.png|Dark Meta Knight Scan_15.jpg|Famitsu scan Scan_16.jpg|Famitsu scan Scan_17.jpg|Famitsu scan Scan_18.jpg|Famitsu scan Scan-13.jpg|Famitsu scan Scan-14.jpg|Famitsu scan Scan-15.jpg|Famitsu scan Scan-16.jpg|Famitsu scan KSA_Haiku.png|''Kirby Star Allies''-themed haiku (Nintendo News) External Links *North American website (archived) *Japanese website (archived) *Play Nintendo "Choose your buddy" References es:Kirby Star Allies de:Kirby Star Allies it:Kirby Star Allies ja:星のカービィ スターアライズ zh:星之卡比 新星同盟 Category:2010s Games Category:Traditional platformers Category:Kirby Star Allies Category:Games with demos Category:Games